Red heaved the backpack over his shoulder and glared at the two idiots in front of him. They were talking animatedly about the forest and its many wonders. They weren’t paying any attention to him or Tikal. That only made things more awkward. The echidna was silent by his side, watching the two dumbasses climb trees and whatnot. It wasn’t long before they ran off, the sound of their laughter trailing behind them.
Now they were alone. Red took a long drag of his cigarette.
“This is awkward,” he said, giving Tikal a look. He placed the backpack properly on his shoulder. He’d probably be lugging it around for the entire duration of this trip.
She said nothing at first, only continuing to stare at where their companions had last been. Suddenly, she turned to Red. “If it would make you more comfortable, I could leave--”
“/No/, Tikal, just--” Red sighed heavily, nearly dropping his cigarette from his mouth. “Just come on. Just /walk/ or somethin’.”
And with that, the two of them began to walk.
They followed the sound of laughter and shouts of excitement. Though uninterested in nature and it’s many ‘wonders’, Red did look around the forest. Many of the animals were probably scared off with all the noise and jumping around that was going on. At least it wasn’t too hot out. If it had been hot, he’d be much more grumpy.
“Crimson, if you don’t mind me asking… Do you really think of yourself as ‘a pile of worthless shit’?” Tikal asked, her tone steady.
Of all the things she could’ve asked about, Red really wished it hadn’t been that. He sighed again, looking up at the stupid blue sky and the stupid clouds. What an annoying question to answer.
Suddenly, he stopped walking. Tikal didn’t stop immediately, but she did soon enough. She turned to look at him, a curious look on her face.
“/Look/ at me, Tikal,” Red said, gesturing to himself. “I’m not even supposed to be here.”
Tikal blinked. “On this trip or--”
“No!” Red said, giving her an incredulous look. “In /existence/! I’m not supposed to /exist/, and yet here I am. Half of a person who’s tryin’ desperately not to be. I am /literally/ made of nothin’ but //negative// feelings! The only thing I’m /good/ at is making mistakes.”
Silence. Not even the sound of distant laughter was heard now.
He had said too much. There had been too many personal feelings in there and not enough solid facts. Hoping Tikal would drop the subject or something, he started to walk briskly. He knew going on this tip had been a mistake, but it wasn’t like he /couldn’t/ go. Not with Mighty here.
His ears twitched as he heard Tikal begin to walk again herself. It didn’t take long for her to fall into step beside him. Red kept his eyes forward. He felt vulnerable and /exposed/ and //stupid//. That had been a mistake. Yet /another/ to add to the very long list.
“If it’s any consolation, I’m not supposed to be here either,” Tikal said quietly. Her head was tilted downward, making it hard for Red to see her eyes.
Wanting to perhaps make her feel better, he said, “You mean on this trip, or-?”
“No,” Tikal replied immediately, shaking her head. “I mean in this era. I… I’m supposed to be dead.”
Great. Now he felt awful. But he supposed, in some weird, twisted way, that did console him. Instead of saying something that would, undoubtedly, make things worse, Red instead thought to /do/ something.
He reached over and took Tikal’s hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Not even a millisecond later, Tikal squeezed back.
Eh, maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all.